1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus for supplying a liquid or liquids, and a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid supply apparatus has been hitherto widely known in various technical field, the liquid supply apparatus including a plurality of cartridge installing sections to which liquid cartridges of a plurality of kinds of liquids are installable respectively, wherein liquids are supplied to a variety of objectives from the liquid cartridges installed to the cartridge installing sections. For example, in a liquid supply apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-54007, one connection port is provided for each of a plurality of cartridge installing sections, and installation positions of liquid cartridges of a plurality of types are determined previously. Further, the liquid cartridges of the plurality of types have the same positions of supply ports. In the case of such an arrangement, it is feared that any erroneous installation may be caused. Therefore, it is necessary to provide any artifice in order to avoid the erroneous installation. In the liquid supply apparatus, engagement guide sections, which have different shapes depending on the types of the liquid cartridges, are formed respectively on surfaces of the plurality of types of the liquid cartridges, the surfaces being to be opposed to the cartridge installing sections upon the installation. Further, engagement receiving sections, which has shapes corresponding to the engagement guide sections of the plurality of types of the liquid cartridges, are formed respectively for the plurality of cartridge installing sections. Each of the cartridge installing sections is constructed so that only a specified liquid cartridge, in which a specified engagement guide section corresponding to the engagement receiving section formed for the specified cartridge installing section, can be installed. In this way, the erroneous installation is avoided.
However, in the case of the liquid supply apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-54007, it is necessary that the installation position for the intended liquid cartridge should be confirmed with respect to the plurality of cartridge installing sections. A user undergoes the troublesome installation operation. Further, a structure for avoiding the erroneous installation of the cartridge installing sections and the liquid cartridges are complicated.